Heritage protection in Valparaiso (Chile): The “Mar Vasto” project

Abstract

The Project “MAR VASTO” (“Risk Management in Valparaíso”), http://www.marvasto.bologna.enea.it) has been financed by BID (“Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo”). It started in March 2007 and ended in October 2008. It has been managed by ENEA (Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development). The project saw the participation of Italian (Universities of Ferrara, Padua and Trieste) and Chilean (University Federico Santa Maria, in Valparaiso, and University of Chile, in Santiago) partners, and the support of local stakeholders. Being the city declared patrimony of the humanity by, UNESCO in 2003, the following main outcomes have been achieved: to evaluate the impact of main hazards (earthquake, tsunami, fire, and landslide); to provide a vulnerability analysis for three historical churches San Francisco, Las Hermanas de la Divina Providencia, La Matríz, comprised of various materials (masonry, concrete, wood, and adobe) and located in different city areas); to carry out an architectural and vulnerability analysis for a pilot building stock in the Cerro Cordillera historic area; to suggest guidelines for future urban planning; and to develop a GIS digital data base (well organized, user-friendly and easy to be implemented in the future), providing hazard maps and scenarios. The paper summarizes some final results, taking into account the in situ work of missions at Valparaíso (May and October-December 2007) and the “MAR VASTO” public final conference (September 2008), where all the above said activities have been presented.